New York – The stock market finished with a 2 percent gain on Friday after a turbulent week as traders turn their attention to the decision coming from the Federal Reserve meeting next week.
For the last nine years, the Federal Reserve established a near-zero interest rate during the financial crisis to support the stock market. But that decision appears to be unsustainable anymore with the Chinese economy experiencing a continuous slowdown since quite some time now. With the Feds meeting next week to find a decision on the topic, the investor has been kept on the edge.
The current economic situation takes charges directly on the stock market where the investor’s doubts are reflected. For the last month, the major markets have experienced loss, with a 6% final fall over the past month.
Nevertheless, it has been a staggered fall, with sharp drops one week followed by small gains the next.
On Friday, the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 8.76 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 1,961.05. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 102.69 points, or 0.6 percent, to 16,433.09, while the NASDAQ composite rose 26.09, or 0.5 percent, to 4,822.34.
But the economy also has lost. This month was recorded the lowest level of America’s customer confidence since September 2014. The falling oil prices pulled all oil and gas companies down dragging major markets in Europe to losses on their own on Friday. Germany’s DAX dropped 0.9 percent while France’s CAC-40 sank 1 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.6 percent. (See Low confidence in the economy sets the context for the Fed)
For Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.3 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.2 percent.
But with a bunch of Chinese news coming this weekend, like retail sales release, industrial production and fixed assets investment numbers, the chances of next week being a turbulent one are pretty high.
Source: CNN Money